Bernice Edwards pleads innocent

AMPA -- Bernice Edwards pleaded innocent on Wednesday to money
laundering, bank fraud and tax evasion, but it was uncertain whether
she will be able to afford a private defense attorney to fight
the federal charges she faces with Baptist leader Henry J. Lyons.

Edwards, the woman who once spent thousands of dollars on designer
dresses, multicarat jewels and facials at a resort spa, seems
to be out of money.

A week ago, a hearing for Edwards was postponed because she had
yet to reach a contract deal with the lawyers with whom she has
consulted for months. On Wednesday, Edwards brought to court a
new attorney -- prominent civil rights lawyer Warren Hope Dawson.
But Edwards hasn't exactly hired Dawson yet either.

"Resources that would normally be fully available to her are not
now," Dawson told the judge, adding that he expects Edwards to
be able to sort out her finances and formally hire a lawyer within
the next 10 days. Edwards is not trying to slow down the government's
case against her, said Dawson, but to "genuinely grapple with
circumstances."

Edwards

Among Edwards' recent circumstances: Federal authorities have
seized the Land Rover from her Milwaukee driveway and dozens of
pieces of her jewelry from her house and nearby pawnshops. They
have frozen bank accounts Edwards shared with Lyons, who was her
boss at the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. The authorities
have placed legal claims on a $700,000 Tierra Verde house Edwards
co-owns with Lyons, as well as on her modest Milwaukee home. And
their search for assets isn't over.

It's all part of a 61-count federal indictment a federal grand
jury returned July 2 against Edwards, Lyons and another convention
employee, Brenda Harris. The three are accused of using the Baptist
group as a vehicle to defraud major corporations with phony marketing
schemes, to launder money through secret bank accounts and to
secure loans with forged documents.

Harris and Lyons pleaded innocent weeks ago. Edwards, a convicted
embezzler who has a history of putting off creditors and law enforcement
officials, got her hearing delayed until Wednesday.

The arraignment was scheduled for noon. One minute before that,
Edwards arrived at the federal courthouse in Tampa, where she
has grown accustomed to being greeted by a dozen reporters and
photographers.

She smiled. Dawson offered his arm.

Dawson, a 31-year veteran in Tampa's legal community, may be best
known for his longtime role as lead counsel for the NAACP Legal
Defense Fund in Hillsborough's desegregation battle. In 1991,
Dawson led the drive to include African-Americans in the all-white
Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. He has made similar efforts to
allow blacks admission into all-white clubs and onto corporate
boards.

The 58-year-old Howard University law school graduate also has
campaigned for the Legislature, four times making it to run-off
elections, but never winning. A past president of the National
Bar Association and current trustee for Hillsborough Community
College, Dawson has counseled the city of Tampa and its housing
authority.

Though he is better known for civil work, Dawson said he is no
stranger to criminal cases. He declined to explain exactly how
he came to meet Edwards. "Someone who knew of my presence in the
community obviously mentioned my name to her."

Edwards also faces racketeering charges in state court, where
she is represented by Tampa attorneys Bill Jung and Tony Black.
Until Wednesday, Edwards had appeared likely to hire Jung and
Black to handle the federal case as well. The lawyers did not
appear in court and declined to comment.

U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth A. Jenkins generally requires defendants
to hire an attorney promptly or request a public defender to avoid
slowing down a case, she said during the hearing.

But Edwards, Dawson said, "is going to need a little more time."
She is well on her way to finalizing a deal, Dawson said, given
her "rather full plate" of criminal charges in state and federal
court.

Jenkins allowed Edwards until Aug. 3 to hire an attorney but left
Edwards with a caution: This couldn't be put off. -- Times staff writer Larry Dougherty contributed to this report.